My roosters acting broody?!

[Ridgerunner]

On the same topic, any ideas why my hen would...try to mate with others?

Nothing unusual there. Chickens are complex social creatures. I certainly do not know why they do a lot of the things they do. They probably don't either. But one possible explanation.

The mating act is not always about fertilizing the eggs. It is an act of dominance. The one on top is dominating the one on the bottom, either willingly or by force. The sex of the participants doesn't matter.

I've seen a dominant hen do that to other hens and pullets. I haven't seen it myself but others have seen mature hens mate with an immature cockerel, to the extent of touching vents. Nothing sexual about it, purely about dominance.

You mentioned having a rooster. Is he really a dominant mature rooster or still an immature cockerel? She may just be letting him know that she is still the boss.

There might be other explanations for this behavior but this is my theory.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Ohhhhh, I see. That's incredibly interesting! He is a dominant rooster, he's about three years old and keeps the ladies in check. I like this theory though, thank you!